Using Keyboard Alternatives to the Mouse
You can use the keyboard to perform many of the same functions you can perform with a mouse. This section lists these keyboard alternatives.
In general, to use a keyboard alternative, the focus must be in the screen region where you want the action to take place. The focus is generally indicated by the location cursor, which is a heavy line around the region.
General keyboard alternatives to mouse control are listed below.
Table 2-1 General Keyboard Alternatives to Mouse
Control
|
Key Name
|
Description
|
|
Tab
|
Use the
Tab key to move the location cursor from field to field within a window or dialog box. The buttons in a window or box constitute one field. The location cursor highlights one of the buttons when you tab to this field.
|
|
Shift-Tab
|
Use the Shift-Tab key to perform the same function as Tab, but move through the fields in the opposite direction.
|
|
Return
|
Use the Return key to choose a highlighted choice in a menu, or to perform the action associated with a highlighted button in a window or dialog box.
|
|
Arrow
keys
|
Use the up, down, left, and right arrow keys to move within a field. For example, when the location cursor highlights a list, you can use the up and down arrow keys to move through the choices in the list. In some windows that contain text, pressing the
Control key along with an up or down arrow key scrolls the text one-half page.
|
|
F1
|
Use the F1 key instead of the Help button to obtain help about a window or dialog box.
|
|
F10
|
Use the F10 key to move the location cursor to the menu bar.
|
|
Meta
|
Use the
Meta key along with the underlined character in the desired menu item to display a menu or dialog box (equivalent to clicking on the item with the mouse). The
Meta key has different names on different keyboards; on some it is the
Left or Right key.
|
|
Control-c
|
Use the Control-c key combination to interrupt command execution.
|
|
Esc
|
Use the Esc key instead of the Close or Cancel button to close the window or dialog box in which the mouse pointer is currently located.
|
The keys and key combinations described in Table 2-2 work on the command line and in text-entry boxes--that is, fields in a dialog box or window where you can enter or edit text.
Table 2-2 Text-entry Keyboard Alternatives
|
Key Name
|
Description
|
|
Back Space
|
Deletes the character to the left of the I-beam cursor.
|
|
Delete
|
Same as Back Space.
|
|
Control-a
|
Moves to the beginning of the line.
|
|
Control-b
|
Moves back one character.
|
|
Control-d
|
Deletes the character to the right of the I-beam cursor.
|
|
Control-e
|
Moves to the end of the line.
|
|
Control-f
|
Moves forward one character.
|
|
Control-k
|
Deletes to the end of the line.
|
|
Control-u
|
Deletes to the beginning of the line.
|
In addition, you can use keyboard accelerators to perform actions from the menu bar; see " Keyboard Accelerators".
